In this mid-2012 Brahms recording from the reverberant Lukaskirche, Dresden, Batiashvili is playing the Stradivarius owned by Joachim. She doesn’t play his familiar first-movt cadenza, however, but – like Isabelle Faust on Harmonia Mundi last year – the one by Busoni which has timpanist and orchestral strings joining in. The three Romances Op.22 are by Schumann’s sister Clara (Joachim was again the dedicatee); these are airy and gracious pieces, and the violinist is nicely partnered by Ott. The sound has more vibrancy than you hear from the CD. In the Concerto’s Adagio Thielemann allows the music its natural eloquence (whereas his speed changes in the work’s introduction are obtrusive) and the solo part – set slightly forwards – registers as given with real feeling. CB

Sound Quality: 82%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

As the graph (above) clearly illustrates, this is a true 96kHz rendering with orchestral content revealed out to >30kHz (harmonics of brass and strings from track 1, the Violin Concerto (Allegro non troppo). PM